Know your rights before you sell structured settlement payments

If someone has been calling you about your settlement payments, you have more protection than the caller may want you to know about. This page is written for you, not for us. It covers what a legitimate purchase looks like, the red flags we hear about, and how to make unwanted calls stop.

This is general information, not legal advice. It is not about your specific case. Talk to your own attorney about your own situation.

What a legitimate purchase looks like

Real transactions in this industry share the same features. If an offer in front of you is missing any of them, ask why.

1. You set the pace

   You decide when to talk, what to ask, and when to stop. A legitimate buyer will still be there tomorrow. A caller who needs an answer in the next ten minutes is working on you, not for you.

2. Everything is in writing

   The offer states which payments you would be giving up, how many of them, and the price you would be paid. Nothing important gets settled over the phone.

3. A court is involved, and a judge signs off

   The buyer files a petition and a written disclosure statement in court. Interested parties are notified. A hearing is held. The judge decides whether the transfer is approved. If there is no case number, there is no deal.

4. You get notice with time to read it

   Florida law sets a notice period of at least 20 days before the hearing (Fla. Stat. § 626.99296(4)(b)). You should have the paperwork in your hands with enough time to read it and ask questions before anyone is in front of a judge.

5. The cost to you is disclosed in the filing

   Florida requires a written disclosure statement that shows the price, the payments being transferred, and the discount rate. In plain terms, the dollars you give up and the dollars you receive are written down where a judge can see them.

6. You are told to get your own advice

   You should get independent advice before you sign anything, from an attorney or advisor you choose. If a buyer picks that person or pays them, it is not independent.

7. You pay nothing up front

   There is no application fee and no paperwork fee on your side. If a company wants money from you before you have been paid, stop and ask your attorney to look at it.

Red flags

One of these is enough to walk away. You do not owe anyone an explanation, and you do not have to be polite about it.

How to check any company before you sign

Ten minutes of checking is worth more than any promise made on a call.

1. Get the full legal name in writing

   Ask for the full legal name, not just a brand name, and the state where the company is registered. Then look that name up in that state’s business registry. For us, that is King Settlements, LLC, a Florida limited liability company.

2. Ask whether they are the buyer or a broker

   Are they buying the payments with their own money, or passing your information to someone else? Then ask how they get paid. A company that will not answer both questions is telling you something.

3. Ask for the offer and the disclosure statement

   You want the payments you would transfer, the price you would receive, and the discount rate, all in writing. If those numbers are not in writing, you cannot compare anything.

4. Ask which court and who files

   A buyer who expects a judge to approve the transfer will tell you which court it will be filed in. A buyer who dodges this question is probably not planning to see a judge at all.

5. Look for complaints

   Search the company name together with the words complaint, review, and scam. The FTC and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) both take consumer complaints, and your state attorney general does too. Florida’s Do Not Call program is run by FDACS.

6. Get more than one price

   The same payments can be priced differently by different buyers. Comparing two written offers is the only way to know what yours is worth on the market.

7. Have your own attorney read it first

   Before you sign, let someone who works for you read the paperwork. If a company gets pushy or irritated about that, that reaction is your answer.

How to stop unwanted calls

You do not have to put up with repeated calls about your settlement. There are several things you can do at once.

• Register your number on the national Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov. Registration is free. It applies to telemarketing calls from companies you have no business relationship with.
• Take back your consent in writing. If you signed a form or ticked a box allowing a company to call or text you, you can revoke it. Send a written message that says you revoke your consent to be contacted by phone, text, and email at that number. Keep a copy of what you sent and when.
• Say the words plainly. “Take me off your call list. Do not call me again.” A do-not-call request has to be honored. Write down the date, the time, the number that called, and the name of the person you spoke with.
• Reply STOP to texts. If a company texts you, replying STOP opts you out of that texting program. You can also email or write to revoke consent for texts the same way you would for calls.
• Keep a log. Date, time, number, company name, and what was said. Two lines per call is enough. A written log turns a pile of annoying calls into something a regulator can act on.
• File complaints. Complaints go to the FTC, to FDACS for Florida, and to your state attorney general. If a caller impersonates a government office or your attorney, report that too.
• Tell us to stop and we stop. If we ever call or text you and you want it to end, say so once. We log it, and you go on our do-not-contact list for good. That applies to calls, texts, and email, across everything we do.

One note on the calls themselves. A caller who pressures you, threatens your payments, or refuses to say who they are is not a buyer you want. You are allowed to hang up, and you do not need a reason.

How we make money

We buy structured settlement, lottery, annuity and other future payment rights. We are paid one way: we pay less for the payments than the payments add up to over time. That difference is the discount, and it is how the business works. We are not pretending otherwise.

The discount is not a secret. Florida requires a written disclosure statement that shows the price, the payments being transferred, and the discount rate, and a judge reads it before approving anything. You should read the same numbers before you sign.

What that means for you in plain terms:

• You pay us nothing up front. No application fee, no paperwork fee.
• Our compensation is built into the price, and the price is disclosed in the court filing.
• We are. We do not give financial, legal or tax advice, and we do not pick or pay the advisor you consult.
• Talk to your own attorney and your own tax professional. If you want advice, get it from someone who works for you.

We would rather lose a deal than have someone sign something they did not understand. If you want to know how the numbers in an offer were calculated, ask us and we will walk you through the math. If the answer is that selling does not make sense for you, we will say so.